N.Y.C. Mayoral Candidates Agree on One Thing: No More Virtual Debates

Democratic candidates are pushing back on plans to have another online debate, saying New Yorkers “deserve and need to see the candidates debate in person.”

Baseball fans are back at Yankee Stadium. Workers are returning to offices in Manhattan. Vaccinated New Yorkers are abandoning their masks as summer weather arrives in the city. But the second major Democratic debate for mayor will be virtual again. The first major debate, on May 13, was virtual, a format that some candidates and viewers found too restrictive. Now six of the Democratic candidates in the New York City mayor’s race are pushing back, sending a letter to the city’s Campaign Finance Board on Wednesday to demand that their next debate be held in person.